The Human Hand

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” -1 Corinthians 12:27

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same  function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” –Romans 12:4-8

 Throughout my life spent as a child of God, I’ve always wondered where in the body of Christ I belong. For every Christian, God has made special plans for their life and has a special part for him to serve. And, in a spiritual sense, I’ve always liked to believe that I serve in the hand area.
 In Science books, encyclopedia’s, or if you look up the human body on the internet, it always gives you this kind of map of man’s body. It lists organs, muscles, bones; where they are placed and how they are used. Every single part of our body works to let us do what we do.
 I’ve always been incredibly interested in learning about the body. And, I love how God uses the human body to set an example of the body of Christ: everybody as a purpose.

 My mother has always told me that my hands are pretty. Actually, a lot of people have told me that. I always thought it was kind of a weird compliment. My wrists are very tiny, and my fingers are long and boney. Even though my hands are very little, they have a great purpose in my body.
 My whole life, I never had one thing that I wanted to be when I grow up. Usually, children’s desires always are changing constantly, though. At my age today, 15 years old, I still have not narrowed any down. I’m a sophomore in high school and I’m starting to look into colleges and what I plan to do after I graduate. I eventually come to the answer, “I just want to be everything!” The truth is, I love too many things to pick one. I love to sing, play music, teach children, make short films, write, design clothes and houses, act, style hair, paint, take pictures, draw, travel, and make friends, and the list goes on. How could I possibly pick ONE for my future? Not to mention get married and have lots of children, start a family! People are crazy to try to make students believe that they can only choose one thing to do their whole life.
 Anyway, if you look at all of these things that I love doing and am somewhat good at…..you’ll find that the majority of what they all require are hands. God gave me my hands for all of these things.

 On this gloomy, rainy, October day, I was reading in my Biology book. I just started to become interested in it a few weeks ago after we got to the, “Human Anatomy and Physiology: Purpose and Design,” part.
 I was reading about muscles and bones, and there was a side note about the hand. I’m going to share what it said because I just thought it was awesome:

The Human Hand

Ordinarily, we give little thought to the mechanism of the hand. We simply take it for granted. And yet, the hand is one of the most wonderful features of the human body. The hand is so unique and so wonderful in its construction and function that it alone marks man as apart and distinct from every other creature. No other creature in the world, not even the ape, is equipped with an instrument comparable to the human hand. Normal human life without the hand would be inconceivable; without it man could never have become what he is or could have achieved what he has accomplished. Without it our civilization would be impossible. In everything that man has created, his hands in one way or another have been involved.
 Like the foot, so also the hand consists of a bony framework: muscles, tendons, fats, and nerve fibers. There are a total of 27 individual bones in the hand: 8 of these are in the wrist, 5 in the palm, and 14 in the fingers. The hand is so constructed that is lends itself to an unlimited variety of functions. But every act of the hand sets in motion a whole series of operations of the human mechanism. For example, to close the fist or make a simple grasping motion involves an array of muscles, joints, and tendons, all the way from the shoulder to the fingertips. Doing such a simple thing as lifting a spoonful of soup to one’s mouth involves more than 30 joints and 50 muscles, all of them functioning together in perfectly synchronized order.
The five fingers of the hand determine the variety and character of the manual manipulations. The most important of these is the thumb. It is the strongest and has a wider sphere of motion than the rest of the fingers. It provides the base against which the hand can perform a grasping or holding operation. The hand without a thumb has lost most of its usefulness, but a thumb with only two or even one finger is still an efficient mechanism.
While the hand is of the greatest importance to everyone in normal life, it is especially important to such people as musicians, artists, craftsmen, physicians, engineers, machine operators and, of course, many others. The hand can be developed and trained to perform astonishing feats. For example, it is estimated that a master pianist can strike over a thousand notes a minute. The well-trained typist will accomplish a similar feat. With the fingers of the hands, the skilled surgeon is able to perform a delicate operation which requires the precision of a mechanical instrument. The trapeze artist can develop the muscles of his hand to such a degree that he is able to hold with his hands and fingers many times his own weight and perform the most breathtaking stunts.
No other part of our body is intimately associated with man’s moods and general behavior. With our hands, we work and play. We create and destroy, we sow and reap, we build and construct; with them we love and heal, we communicate and express our emotions, we write books and create works of art. With our clasped hands, we express love, faith, and friendship, and with the clenched fist we threaten and attack. With the open hand we welcome friends and loved ones; the caressing hand expresses deep emotion and attraction, and with a handclasp we seal a solemn covenant. With our wringing hands we reveal the anguish of our soul, and with folded hands we express our devotion and reverence to our God.
The hand is a wonderful gift of the Creator to man. It is one of the seven wonders of the human body. Only and omnipotent and all-wise God could have designed and created the human hand.

 Everybody's hands has a miraculous purpose. They were given to you for a reason. "You are meant to be touching the lives that you touch." Go, touch the world with your God-given hands!!

"...There's not much I can do to repay all You've done. So, I give my hands to You..." -Jeremy Camp

 Happy Friday, bloggers!
-Emily